THE UNIVERSITY OF LEIPZIG

6 Institutional Mapping at the Local Level
6.1 Sample size determination and identification of clusters
A total of 220 farmers were interviewed in a local institutional mapping household survey
conducted in villages around Kakamega Forest. The survey respondents, who were
predominantly farmers, are spread in the different clusters that were statistically constituted
by the district statistical office in Kakamega. These clusters also fall under the sampling frame
that is used by Kenya Central Bureau of Statistics. The usual sampling procedure in Kenya
consists of randomised selection of clusters corresponding with enumeration areas within a
master sample, with a probability equivalent to size in the number of households in every
selected cluster. In each cluster, there are 168 house holds.
Therefore, delectation of clusters was based on the sampling frame developed by the National
Sample Survey Evaluation Programme (NASSEP III). The NASSEP III sampling frame is a
two-stage stratified cluster sample design with individual districts forming the strata. In this
regard, Kakamega District has 26 clusters. From these, 11 clusters were identified for the
survey. These clusters eventually provided the principle sampling points. The Principle
Sampling Point (PSP) was a village commonly known as a location. These clusters were
purposively sampled given their location and proximity to the forest.
Because the survey intended to investigate the role of local notions in institutional framing,
clusters with localities in or around the forest were found to be useful. Hence the areas around
the forest were deliberately represented in the sample. In each cluster, two villages were
visited and in each village, 10 households were randomly chosen and interviewed. Hence,
from each cluster 20 households were interviewed. In total 220 house holds were sampled.
The sample size for the house holds to be covered in the local mapping survey was
statistically determined based on a precision of 5% and a confidence level of 95%. 595
On top of data collected from the individual household respondents, 11 focus group
discussions were held to augment the quantitative data.
Having processed the sample size, the survey team proceeded to identify the eligible
enumeration areas. It is important to point out that each cluster contained 168 house holds.
These clusters are thought to represent the different geographical scope of the district.
However, these same clusters also take into consideration different other aspects such as
semi-urban/rural stratifications, economic and social differentiations as well as livelihood
zonations. 596
Based on the assumption that local notions are more understood and appreciated by household
heads, the interviews were restricted to the two household heads. In the survey, either the
husband or wife was taken as the respondent. The average distance was 4 kilometres from
Kakamega forest. This distance was ascertained by making rough approximation by the
survey enumerators. In the survey the mean number of adults residing in a particular
595 Bartllett, J.E, J.W, Kotrlik and Higgins, C. 2001. Opcit.
596 CBS. 2006. Kenya Economic survey. Nairobi: Government Printer
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